Theatre Nights: Stories from the sea, music, and Cantona on Cork stages 

A reminder that Music Network is bringing four of Ireland’s most outstanding traditional musicians, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Pauline Scanlon, Tom Morrow, and John Doyle, to play at St Brendan’s Church in Bantry this Saturday, September 26.

Hear beautiful tracks recorded by the group this year. 8pm start. https://www.musicnetwork.ie.

At the Everyman this Saturday, award-winning filmmaker Ken O’Sullivan talks about his 25 years of exploring the seas around Ireland and beyond. Stories From The Sea reveals tales of swimming with dolphins, being surrounded by killer whales, and his overall passion for our maritime history and culture. 7.30pm.

And you simply cannot miss To Hell in a Handbag: The Secret Lives of Canon Chasuble and Miss Prism, by Once Off Productions on Sunday night. Written and performed by Jonathan White and Helen Norton, and directed by Conor Hanratty, it is a wonderful sideways glance at Wilde’s classic. 8pm for that. 021 450 1673 or www.everymancork.com.

There is another sideways glance at a classic in the Cork Arts Theatre this week with Epiphany, telling Joyce’s The Dead from the woman’s point of view. Riveting performance from Lesley Conroy. 8pm tonight and tomorrow, also Saturday at 2.30pm. 021 450 5624 www.corkartstheatre.com.

Eric Cantona in person tonight at the Opera House is selling fast, as is comedian Gearóid Farrelly tomorrow with No Pressure. The one you need to notice though is An tÉalú (The Escape) on Saturday. A huge success wherever it’s played, this musical explores what happens when an independent woman wants her freedom again. Enjoy hearing our beautiful West Cork Irish as it should be spoken (with useful subtitles in case you miss a word or two!) 021 427 0022 or www.corkoperahouse.ie.

The Briery Gap Theatre in Macroom hosts comedian Anne Gildea tomorrow with Further Adventures in Womaning. 8pm start. And next Thursday, jazz enthusiasts take note, there is a free workshop in the morning, led by an international line-up of professional jazz musicians: U.S trumpeter J.Q. Whitcomb, British pianist Brian Priestley, South Korean bassist Jinju Jang and Irish drummer John Philip Murray. That runs 10am-12.30pm.

Then, get to the Timeless Jazz concert that night when the four musicians explore the rich connections between blues, swing, bebop, funk, fusion and beyond. Great stuff. 8pm start. 083 143 6884 or www.brierygap.ie.

In Fermoy, they are celebrating Showband Nights & Dancehall Days, from tonight until October 4. Music, dancing, film, a photo exhibition, a book launch and a gala concert are all on the programme, with tonight’s taster evening featuring live music with Mo O’Connor & Friends followed by The Ballroom of Romance with Brenda Fricker and John Kavanagh.

Next weekend, October 2-4, the book Stories from the Showband & Dancehall Era will be launched, with a photographic exhibition. The weekend continues with a gala concert on Saturday and finishes with a lively Afternoon Tea Dance at the Palace Ballroom on Sunday, October 4. https://www.fermoyyouthcentre.ie/.

Love The Traitors on TV? Here’s something interesting coming up at the Firkin Crane on Friday next week. Banished, hosted by Mike Morgan, is a brand-new interactive live entertainment experience coming to Cork for one night only.

Inspired by social-deduction games like The Traitors, it puts the audience at the heart of the action. You don’t just watch the game, you help decide who survives!

Fourteen randomly selected audience members take their seats on stage. Three will secretly become The Hidden. Their mission? Lie, manipulate and survive without being discovered. Everyone else must work together to uncover them. Call 021 450 7487 or see dancecorkfirkincrane.ie.